i don't think i think. it was a little good although the problem may be really you know the words always greet the. syrian president bashar asad speaks exclusively to r.t. about he's in his country's future saying he's not a western poverty and is ready to die in syria. barack obama slaps new sanctions on iran and want to be his first foreign policy decisions since reelection. may be a townhouse itself as a tourist destination just weeks after the deadly siege and clashes in the town of bani walid. this is r.t.

coming to live from moscow with me marina joshie the syrian president has predicted a global catastrophe should western states intervene in his country in the exclusive interview with r.t. bashar assad says he's not a western poppet and vowed to live and die in syria our correspondent in the region policy has the details. in this exclusive interview with r.t. the syrian president bashar assad stressed the point that he will remain in syria he said it was only for the syrian people to decide his fate he said that he was not a puppet of the west and you have the situation where the waste creates enemies that essentially unveiled motivated by the self interest wasn't told that there wasn't a problem you know that with all it's created and it was because we knew that. for different reasons they want to create a new enemy because of the problem with the president so. that's what you have to focus on the real problem with listening to this but he did warn that these self

interests of the ways that lead to foreign intervention which ultimately has a domino effect he also. made the point that at the moment there is no civil war in syria he said the situation was such that you had these factions fighting they were being funded by the west he called them terrorist and he said that these terrorists coming from abroad are the biggest problem facing syria today on the topic of turkey he did say that there was no war no conflict between the syrian people and the turkish people that the disagreements were on a government level. i think you believe that if muslim brotherhood. take over in the region especially in syria you can go to his political future this is one reason the other reason. personally think that he had been useful for the autumn and you can control the region as it was during those many. different lists. which is. islamic but not god money in buying not to be holy for but in his how do

you think that he's had before he said that he didn't have any regrets although he did make the point that the conflict is still ongoing on the ground and as such is a little bit too soon to really step back and pop your grace said if today was fifteenth of march two thousand and eleven that's when the protest started to escalate and grow what would you do differently what i would do or do what i did exactly sail for exactly the thing just to ask different parties to for to have dialogue and to stand against the terrorist group but i always thought if you didn't start as moderates it because there was a lot of motion but within those markets you had militants who thought the tooting of the civilians and the army at the same time maybe on the tactical level you could have done something different but as president to not think you could take the decision on strategic level which is different in essence the point being made by the syrian president bashar assad is that his government was fighting

a legitimate cause that what is happening in syria today is foreign intervention that is attempting to destabilize the situation and that he is taking his cue from the syrian people. now it is so vision and he has spoke to the embattled president asad in the mask has shared her views on the situation in syria and what people there think about their leader. the thing that really mark me the most is how really how much more complicated situation insight series from what we see in the media because i talk to people yes the country is divided and even the people who didn't like us before this conflict started are now so scared that fundamentalists will come to fundamentalists who are fighting on the side of the free syrian army and syrian people are not about that and this is like the only secular counter that had a lot of different religious groups always living in peace with each other whether it's sunni or shia or always or christians so there are really scared that if i

side goes the army will fall apart and then you know you have this extremist muslims coming to them and asking them to basically be just like them so it's not just about assad i think people feel like whether he goes or stays. it's only can get worse if it goes because it will get i mean that the terror attacks will continue and the fundamentalists will come to power so they're very scared of that . and again see the full exclusive interview with syria's president bashar al assad at ten am g.m.t. here on r.t. and it's also available in our website r t v dot com. i'm serious i'm a. student but. this is an art exclusive why do you are some day. dot com. now just days after his reelection to the white house barack obama has imposed new sanctions against iran this comes as the pentagon has

revealed that iranian warplanes tried to shoot down a u.s. drone flying near iran's border last week. has more. president obama's first moves after he won reelection have pretty much indicated that in the next four years he will aggressively pursue the idea of the u.s. being the world police ministration is impose financial sanctions against the iranian officials will be u.s. blames for jamming satellite broadcast and blocking internet access any rain that comes on top of a whole bunch of other sanctions that had been put in place by the u.s. which proved to be crippling for the iranian economy and the population there is suffering a great deal because of that while campaigning president obama indicated that he didn't want to go to war with iran but that he would continue the sanctions policy and that's what he's doing we've heard reports that the obama administration might engage in direct talks with iran at some point but there has been no confirmation that. threatens to attack iran and the u.s. appears to be stopping them some argue that you might be playing

a good cop bad cop diplomatic game there anyway the administration's strategy appears to be to make iran's so desperate that they would agree to anything but sanctioning iran was probably not president obama's very first move after winning this election government officials here say that said on wednesday a u.s. drone strike targeted a group of al qaida militants in yemen and the president had to authorize that and possibly he did that within hours after his reelection the use of drones has been highly controversial it's quite clear not everybody by those drones are terrorists and the administration so far has been far from transparent on how they pick the targets and basically authorize executions overseas the u.n. has raised concerns about the legality of such executions has been a lot of criticism especially after numerous reports of civilian deaths in the meantime this administration is said to rely on drones more and more and other drone related story this week the pentagon said rainey and military had fired upon

but they've not hit a you was thrown flying close to the pentagon claimed the drone was there on their surveillance mission. so looking at some of president obama's first moves after reelection one could say he takes the idea of america being the world police very seriously but the question is who's going to hold that world police itself accountable. and the u.s. has so far failed to use the bargaining opportunity the sanctions potentially have says reza marashi research director at the national rain american council you can continue to ramp up the sanctions on iran but sanctions ostensibly are supposed to provide leverage at the negotiating table if you're not using them as a negotiating chip when you're at the negotiating table then all they are is a blunt instrument the ends up adversely affecting the lives of innocent iranian people this is the first instance in which we've seen obama move forward on sanctions and it remains to be seen whether or not he doubles down on the

diplomatic track of his policy to try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis but we haven't seen to date tangible evidence of these sanctions causing the iranian government to change strategic calculus on its regional policies or on more specifically its nuclear policy and that's supposed to be the goal that's the metric of success that both the bush administration and the obama administration have defined seen the obama administration really ramp up the amount of drone usage you know whether it is yemen or pakistan or even today we saw a report of the iranian government shooting at an american drone that was off of its coast so we're in uncharted waters when it comes to policy american policy related to drones and until we have some rules to this game that the international community can abide by you know playing off the same script that it increases the likelihood of a conflict that the united states and the international community i think would independently seek to avoid. and coming up in the program it's all in the name for a one u.s. citizen stuck in

a qatar we find out how what you are called could link you to criminal activity and bar you from entering your own country the details after this break. recently protests and demonstrations of any kind were banned until further notice and buck rein a curfew as in you can't go out of your home when the government doesn't want you to has already been in effect in the country since two thousand and eleven many of the protests which are now totally forbidden were related to members of the public demanding the release of political prisoners four people were also recently arrested for insulting the king over twitter wow a middle eastern country that has totally shut down any form of protest and hud's you down if you tweet about the leadership sounds pretty undemocratic to me and

that nato is already fueling up ready to take action and bomb some freedom into warmer well not really if nato really cared about spreading democracy you'd think they'd be more consistent with their targets but that's just my opinion. on the sort of flight school. i shoot to sponge. things. on done and fadia to. use the troops on the most reliable of the twentieth century. legend. production a call for. the

plant that was responsible for causing the world's worst industrial disaster. had been abandoned in a condition where it had become a source of pollution or the most recent study that was done shows that this water pollution spread to. more than hundred thousand. troops welcome the fact that children see their children to be ten times more likely to be born with birth defects in children. in the sea. five hundred dollars. unpunished.

admission. critique three. three. three. three. two three. old free books videos. free radio dot com. welcome back you're watching r t live from moscow while the libyan town of bani walid is still struggling to heal the scars of the siege which took place less than a month ago being promoted as a new travel hotspot. visited the world travel market in london to find out why tour operators remain silent on the tragedy. we're here at the world travel market a trade show you taking place in london or people can consulates their holiday

inspiration that scouts exotic spot for a honeymoon a one country you probably wouldn't expect to see being touted as a tourist destination and that's libya the places where the tourist interesting the site is a political fight it's completely safe going to do it's got to be safe more than even towns to big towns like london or new york but there's somewhere there's not mentioned in the guide burke bani walid a desert town this remain loyal to formally to colonel gadhafi is just a few hours drive south east of the traditional tourist destination tripoli but it's a world away from the safe environment the two guides the pitching. the town's become the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the libyan uprising last year but despite reports of indiscriminate shelling and gas attacks on the local population at the hands of the libyan army there's been an almost total media blackout in the . us he ran the story for more than

a fortnight before anyone else picked it up back in london and despite libya being shaikh ace it seems that bani walid has once again being conveniently left out the conversation when i saw this. it was a goes surprise and i came to two hours of feedback of the situation at the moment in libya and if we have so many people it means our situation is that it becoming more stable and we can think for next season to do something with libya and it's a wonderful country so we are we would about what's happening at the moment i knew you were legal but do you mean was hacked was being happening there's been fighting do you know about that no we went to confront the tour operator i saw you speaking some people eat telling them about what's been happening in bunny walid at the moment. this is a blog. it's coming for the future. there's a reason because it was deeply disturbing is that despite

a growing body of evidence about crimes against civilians and increasingly vocal concerns from human rights organizations the same media and government remain resolutely silent we've got to sort of package this as a success it's very important for nato so we have the speed of these countries to be liberated in inverted commas as great places to go great places to invest and the reality for the everyday person in these countries is a living hell really pick up one of the travel information then you will be given reasons to visit libya and undoubtedly there are many there's a concerning silence here that's being echoed by the u.k. media a seeming refusal to talk about what's been happening in places like. the reality is that the new government is struggling to control its militias and bridge the deep divides that remain in the country but none of that you're going to read about in the. surf artsy london. while the libyan government says bani walid will

soon recover locals believe their current status far from normal r.t. spoke to a man named for raj who is in contact with his relatives in the stricken town and says the fighting is still not over ferrars not his real name is currently in egypt and has asked not to be identified over fears for his safety. government supporting google because of militias that. are. attacking and killing innocent citizens in the city leave you. out of looking. for. this included minutes in food and other life in the sixty's they are destroying with guns and bombs and use. of but he would eat this is a given store their definition of close. friends and know the

photo and night and the young fellow who tool to another who do. already knew and did good he didn't do their business only good for the united states as was. their cities with bombs and guns and stupidity done that if it where they know now and i mean the government of libya do you realize you believe in bieber. an american now living and working in qatar has been barred from traveling home to visit his sick mother long who is an air force veteran has been placed on a federal no fly list without explanation. from the council of american islamic relations believes his muslim name makes him an undesirable person and the united states. there is no indication of any reason for him to be on this no fly list he has never been convicted of any criminal activity he has served his country for ten

years in the u.s. air force and he has indicated that there is nothing he can think of that would link him to anything criminal in nature you know there are cases care has dealt with in the past of individuals who were placed on the no fly list sometimes it just has to do with the name their name may sound like someone who was affiliated with criminal activities or or something of the sort we've never really been given answers by the f.b.i. and the department of homeland security so we're not one hundred percent sure it's kind of speculation at this point but nevertheless you know he's indicated that he is a law abiding u.s. citizen and really cannot think of anything that would prevent him from travel. russia's joint chief of staff has become the latest high ranking official to fall in the wake of a corruption scandal shaking the country's military this comes after the second of the defense minister and the new man in the job as over the start of the majorly shuffle of the ministry the first deputy minister has also been replaced

a ministry has been drawn into a major scandal over the alleged selling off of assets at well below market value president putin as well as his predecessor dmitry medvedev named countering corruption in russia as one of their main goals. now the fall of the berlin wall on of amber of the ninth exactly twenty three years ago symbolize the and the cold war the day will be marked by memorial ceremonies across germany but as are you now reports even two decades after the fall divisions still remain. made in love a ballet produced in western germany by a choreographer from the former d.d.r. in the eighty's when one nation was riven into stuff and fled what he saw as a prison for the promise of freedom this is when artists who needed inspiration who didn't have a chance to see the outside world were going to were telling us you know awaits roots in the west where we were different but emotional journey was on the album

that enrich himself though. he never came back because even twenty years after the fall of the berlin wall the east is still locked in the dark past. soviet era infrastructure derailed never really adapting to the capitalist reality reunification it turns out was more annexation what happened politically in the way of international law is that west germany became bigger if they would have taken the chance in that time to say we abolish both germany as we abolish the west of germany and we abolish the eastern region in the east germany and we make something new we make a new germany this might have been much better the forging of one nation was the end of another this is all that remains from a once large power plant in the village of men that stein in eastern germany it used to generate electricity for railroads and trams shortly after reunification the plant was shut down as happened with most industry in the former g.d.r.

abandoned buildings like this and deliberate dated are still scattered all across the east here silence reminders of the former republics power the two decades following the reunification so a million and a half had west most to youngsters live in an aging population behind slowly that might be changing since two thousand and one the migration numbers are declining and in two thousand and eleven we had for the first time note not more out migrants than in migrants these people are living breathing statistics they're all see the nickname for born easterners and they've returned home and everybody want to come but sometimes opportunity is not given it's a responsibility of the political to encourage people to stay here to give them like a maybe. opportunity to earn money but they're using eastern greed and

western guile to help themselves probably they're all had similar problems like. where do i find a flower or if i want to buy a whole lot of these kinds of so the next project was that we build a website where we try to collect all these information but the challenge is the tougher to overcome maybe unspoken the water between the d.v.r. and us germany was one of the hottest across in the world this brown path is what used to be a minefield and imposing construction with says it to be cameras barbed wire fences and watchtowers every one of the half kilometers it was all taken away off to reunion this place is now a museum but while there was a may have become part of history division remains the boundary in some people's minds is as solid as ever and until these barrier falls through reunification will remain just an illusion or if an ocean r.t. reporting from germany. and coming up we had to our washington studio for breaking

the south with abby martin and that's just a few moments here on our team. the legacy no one should be proud. of scrap metal littering pristine arctic landscape building stilton over their foundation pipes spewing black smoke over the snow covered peaks the traces of the soviet industrial activity on the burgen archipelago don't make a pretty picture the guiding principle here is the worse the better locals like to tell the story that back in soviet times where norwegians were visiting barons work they also expressed amazement. at how prosperous this was well times have obviously a challenge when they saw it lags they still attracting a region tourists are barons work i would then commerce watch native cash that's why while. our goal is common as was uncovered here

a few days ago instead of throwing it away the local administration decided to paint the bin you and put it at variance with central square that can do nine hundred eighty s. there was a burgeoning mining community the soviet union was determined to maintain its own costs. are located halfway between north america and western europe bergen archipelago is part of norway with a special status that allows other countries to set up industrial bases here in the middle of the cold war it served as the use of western most outposts now it's one of the soviet union's last preserved relics. of the soviet union if it was cut off from any financial support for two decades curious western tourists and i think it could be even more appealing for russians trying. to keep its presence on spitsbergen russia still maintaining

a coal mine here but in terms of profit is far behind local shops so between. bill it is a big hit the defunct aren't curtain still helps keep the money flowing guys it's the russians doing your show what's your kids playing robles. you're the local administration is increasingly under pressure to bring the infrastructure up to more than standards these modernization efforts are not very popular with tourists if you come into a very authentic place like. it should stay the way it is that would be my wish i mean that's the part of the you know authentic tradition here. i should not i would not like to have it in a shiny condition to be on those the time to change even for the better is not always good for business something that even the local band has become attuned to when they try to add morning russian songs to die repertoire the audience called

the wanted to hear it was a song comfortably familiar. here is mitt romney trying to figure out of that thing that we americans call. concludes the longest while this campaign in our history let me. before that some of. the twists and turns that have been the hallmarks of this campaign what you want. to do because you've never seen anything like this.

what's up guys i'm having martin so guess what just a day after president obama got reelected the news was released that another person has been charged under the espionage act case you guys last count this will be the seventh person prosecuted under the killing of world war one legislation this time the charges against james. the linguist for the navy and bob greene who's been accused of making copies of classified documents regardless of his intent the espionage act could carry the charge of death look this is no laughing matter obama has prosecuted more whistleblowers and all previous administrations combined and doesn't look like he's planning to stop anytime soon and that's why i'm breaking the set.

while many are bummed that obama's policies will ensue for another four years there is a silver lining and it has nothing to do with the presidency instead it has everything to do with the direct democracy that was pushed through the store propositions and multiple states from gay marriage to approving recreational marijuana use voters made their voices heard and it signifies a shift in america's collective consciousness to talk about the progress made from the election in the case for electoral reform and joined by our correspondent ramon know from our l.a. studio and a church going to from our new york studio in our very own. thanks so much for coming on everyone so i'm on let's start with you i mean i was devastated as a california girl to find out about the g.m.o. labeling failing in california in one poll nationwide ninety percent of americans want it so what happened well. can be answered with just one word monsanto they spent millions of dollars trying to defeat this ballot initiative all along with chemical companies.